Pheromone, My Lovely
by LittleLizzieZentara
Summary: How is Rick Castle going to deal with a Kate Beckett who is slowly losing all her inhibitions? Set late in season 2. Inspired by 'Pheromone, My Lovely,' an episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman. Not a crossover because only a guest character is referenced. Superman is nothing more than a fictional comic book/TV/movie hero in this story.
1. Chapter 1

**It's official-I have no self-control. I was going to wait until this story was finished before posting it, because I didn't want to make you guys wait long for updates. But I'm so excited about this story (it's one of 3 chapters I've written since I posted my last fic-my muse went into hiding for a LONG time) that I couldn't wait any more. I've written the first two chapters and hope to get the last two done soon. For those of you who watched 'Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman' this is inspired by the perfume episode from season 1. For those who didn't, you should be able to find clips on YouTube. I didn't make this a crossover fic because the only part I used was a guest character and her special perfume. In this fic Superman is nothing more than a comic book, TV and movie character. There really is a town called Metropolis, in Illinois. They have a lot of tourist stuff regarding Superman you can find out about from their town website.**

**One other thing-Kate is OOC in most of this story. That is INTENTIONAL. If you haven't seen the perfume episode, I recommend looking up those clips before reading this story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle, obviously. I also don't own Superman. Although I would LOVE to meet Dean Cain. Almost as much as I'd love to meet Stana Katic. :) Oh, and I share a birthday with Dean Cain. (And Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling) How cool is that?**

* * *

"Castle's going to be sorry he missed this," Ryan told Esposito as the two detectives watched Kate dealing with their latest suspect.

"Missed what?" Castle asked, planting his hands on the back of the detectives' chairs and leaning forward to get a closer look. His eyes widened when his gaze landed on the suspect. "Is that-?"

"Morgan Fairchild?" Esposito said. "No. Just a look-alike."

"Name's Miranda Chambers," Ryan filled the writer in. "She owns a perfume shop in Metropolis."

"It gets better," Esposito said. "It turns out there is a real couple named Lois Lane and Clark Kent who live just down the street from her. Apparently the couple changed their names when they got together to capitalize on the fame of Superman. Ms. Chambers had a run in with them back in Metropolis. She did time for stalking Kent."

"So what's her connection to the case?" Castle wanted to know.

"Mr. Kent, formally Barry Reece, is our vic's brother," Ryan told him.

"His twin brother," Esposito added. "Identical. And our suspect dated good old Barry when they were in high school."  
"I'm guessing it didn't end well?"

"First run-in with the law was when she TP'd his house after he dumped her," Esposito confirmed.

"The night before their senior prom," Ryan added.

Castle winced. "Ouch. He's lucky that's all she did. When I-"

Kate's voice raised in barely restrained frustration interrupted whatever the writer was about to say. "Your perfume? You think THAT'S going to help you?"

_Perfume?_ Castle mouthed.

Ryan and Esposito shrugged.

"It will get me exactly what I want," Miranda said confidently.

Kate's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And what is that?"

"Revenge."

Castle smiled at the way Kate rolled her eyes.

Miranda let out a mocking chuckle. "I've read that last novel Rick Castle wrote. It's based on you, isn't it? Tell me, Detective-just what is your relationship with Mr. Castle?"

Castle couldn't help shaking his head. If she wouldn't admit anything to him, what made this Miranda think that she would admit anything to her?

Kate gave a mocking laugh of her own. "And what makes you think that's any business of yours?"

"I just thought you might like to know-that perfume I sprayed you with before caught up with me? It causes a person to lose ALL her inhibitions."

Castle couldn't hold back his delighted gasp. Thankfully Kate couldn't hear it.

Kate narrowed her eyes into a dangerous glare. "I already know that's a lie. After all, you're still in one piece."

He gulped. Kate had a point. Maybe losing all her inhibitions _wouldn't_ be a good thing.

"I can prove it to you," Miranda insisted. "All you need to do is see Mr. Castle or hear his voice."

Castle had a feeling he knew where this was going.

"And why is that?"

He had a feeling Kate did, too.

"The main ingredient in the perfume is a high concentration of pheromones," Miranda explained. "The effects are localized. You will act normally until you come in contact with a man you have strong feelings for. And you do have strong feelings for him, don't you?"

Castle didn't dare breathe, not wanting the slightest sound to cause him to miss her response.

Kate smirked. "I think we're done here."

Castle was irritated at the sliver of disappointment that ran through him. He knew better than to get his hopes up where Kate Beckett was concerned. The woman guarded her emotions as fiercely as she did the people of Manhattan. It would probably _take_ a perfume like that for her to ever admit that she felt anything for him.

The writer didn't bother to wait for Kate before grabbing the two cups of coffee he had set on a nearby table and heading to his usual waiting place, the chair next to her desk.

Castle had been playing Angry Birds for only a couple minutes when he felt a soft, feminine hand on his shoulder. Sure it was Kate he looked up at her, his gaze focusing in on the soft smile on her lips.

"Thanks for the coffee, Castle," she held up the cup in her other hand as she spoke. "You're so sweet." Her hair tickled his chin when she leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

Castle watched with suspicious eyes as she sat, bringing her chair much closer to him than she usually did. Was there some truth to the effects of the perfume? Or did she know he had been in the observation room and had decided to tease him a little?

Castle jerked when he felt one of Kate's hands rest lightly on his knee. He gave her a questioning look but the detective wasn't even looking in his direction. Instead, she seemed completely focused on the paperwork she had just begun filling out.

So he waited. Any second she would look over at him with that amused smile that told him she had just pulled one over on him.

One minute passed.

Then another.

And another.

On it went until a good fifteen minutes had passed with Castle staring at Kate while she worked.

Which was also odd. Normally she would have snapped at him that staring was 'creepy' and demanded that he stop. But she still hadn't even looked in his direction. Or moved her hand.

"Kate?"

Kate looked over at him with that same soft smile she had graced him with earlier. "What, Castle?"

"Ummm…are you okay?"

"Never better," Kate replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I've been watching you do paperwork for the last fifteen minutes and you haven't said a word," he said.

_Or removed your hand from my knee._

But he wasn't going to mention that.

"You've been quiet and haven't distracted me," Kate said with a shrug. "It's not a problem."

"Not a problem?" Castle didn't bother to try to hide his shock. "You've said it's creepy. Repeatedly."

"It used to be," Kate admitted her tone thoughtful. "But if you can be entertained enough by simply watching me, I don't see the harm."

"You don't-"

"It's fine, Castle," Kate said and gave his knee a light squeeze before turning back to her paperwork.

Either Kate was taking this joke farther than she'd ever taken a joke before….

Or that perfume was working.

* * *

**I have missed my muse so much! I'm glad she's back. So what did you guys think of this one? **

**Also, I'm working on a fic with Celeste J. Evans and SheWhoTangles called 'Armed & Dangerous.' It's on Celeste's page. We came up with the idea when I was PLEADING with them for spoilers on the LA episode. I didn't get spoilers, but we did get a story out of it. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I was debating all day whether to wait to post this next chapter yet or not. I wrote this yesterday and won't be writing the next chapter until after I get the next chapter for the collab fic done. I'm hoping to write that tomorrow and then I will be able to focus on finishing this story. Barring the unexpected, this should be finished and completely posted by sometime next weekend, probably sooner. If you're interested in also reading the collab fic, it's titled 'Armed & Dangerous' and is one Celeste J. Evan's page.**

**One other thing-Demming IS in this chapter. But in this story Kate is ****casually aquainted with him and none of the stuff in the show with them has happened.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or Superman.**

* * *

Kate's thoughts refused to settle. She had been doing fine, focusing on paperwork and more or less ignoring Castle for over an hour when all of a sudden her mind refused to dwell on anything _but _Castle.

_The first thing he's going to do is ask Lanie if the vic was sprayed with that perfume, _she thought as she rose from her chair.

_Those eyes could get a girl to do anything, _ran through her mind as her gaze met his.

_He's so sweet_, she silently gushed as she reached for her coffee.

It didn't make sense. It wasn't even lunch time yet. And it was a workday. This was the time of day Kate's mind was at its sharpest as she tried to piece together the information needed to track down the latest killer.

The mental ramblings continued as she made her way to the morgue, Castle at her heels. By the time they got off the elevator Kate realized she was shaking. The feelings coursing through her were similar to when she started to feel the effects of one drink too many, except the last glass of wine she'd drank had been with Lanie. Two days ago.

Maybe she was coming down with something. There was that flu that had been going around for the last couple of weeks. She'd gotten a flu shot like she did every year, but nothing was foolproof.

"Kate, are you okay?" Castle asked his tone and gaze betraying his concern.

"I don't know," Kate replied honestly.

Castle put a hand to her forehead, saying after a moment, "You don't have a fever."

Suddenly, everything within Kate went calm. The shaking stopped, the queasiness in her stomach settled. Even her mind went quiet.

"Wait!" Kate burst out when Castle started to remove his hand. She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and slowly pulled his hand away. Determined fingers slid up his palm until her hand was fully clasped in his. "Okay, now we can go."

Kate started to make her way forward but for some reason Castle didn't move with her. She couldn't take more than a step without having to let go of Castle's hand, something she wasn't willing to do at the moment. She turned her head to see Castle's eyes narrowed in speculation.

"You coming or what?" she wanted to know.

_If he says no, I'll just have to think of a way to change his mind._

"Yeah," Castle's reply came out with a twinge of uncertainty.

Thankfully Castle seemed to snap out of whatever weird mood he'd fallen in to, because he launched into a story about Alexis that didn't end until they reached the morgue.

"So, what have you got for us, Lanie?" Kate asked as she headed over to the M.E.

Kate realized her ability to focus was back as she listened to Lanie describe the details that she had gleaned from the toxicology report.

"There was something weird, though," Lanie said. The M.E. had been focused on the body on the slab as she spoke, pointing out the areas as she described what she had found. Knowing that the detective and writer were easily able to follow what she was saying, she didn't bother to glance over at them as she worked. "There was an unknown substance on his skin. And there was a high trace of-"

"Pheromones?" Castle interrupted.

"How did you know that?" Lanie asked, finally turning her head. She arched an eyebrow and smirked before she added, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"A suspect sprayed me with perfume before I took her down," Kate began. "She owns a perfume shop in Metropolis, Illinois. Evidently she personally makes all of the perfumes that she sells. The perfume she sprayed me with is high in pheromones, or so she says."

"That's not what I meant, Kate Beckett, and you know it!" Lanie said.

"She really doesn't know what you meant," Castle said. "She doesn't believe that it works."

"What works?" Lanie's tone was suspicious now.

Kate rolled her eyes. "The suspect said that her perfume had magical powers, and Castle believes her. Naturally."

"What magical powers?" Lanie wanted to know.

"They make a person lose all her inhibitions," Castle explained, his eyes twinkling with delight.

"Which we know is not true," Kate said.

"And how do we know that?" Surprisingly, the question came from Lanie, not Castle.

"If I had lost 'all my inhibitions,'" Kate said the quoted phrase in a mocking tone, "I would have been all over Castle in a matter of seconds, and you know it."

Kate recognized the soft gulping sound that Castle made. It was the same one he made every time she said something that drew any rational thought from his mind.

"It's not a problem Castle," Kate assured him. "The perfume _doesn't_ work, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure about that?" Lanie's tone sounded ominous to Kate's ears.

Since when had she become such a drama queen?

* * *

Kate didn't know how long Castle had been gone, but it had felt like hours. The man had left to get them all take out from a nearby Chinese restaurant. As soon as he had let go of her hand, thoughts started fluttering around in her head like a hummingbird's wings. The shaking had taken a couple minutes to set in, but now Kate didn't even dare take a drink of her coffee for fear of dropping the Styrofoam cup.

Thankfully Kate had been able to talk Castle in to ordering the food over the phone. Which meant he only had to go to the ground floor of the precinct to meet the delivery guy.

So what was taking so long?

Finally the elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal Castle, a large plastic bag in each hand.

"Castle!" Kate cried and ran over to him. Not able to wait another second, she threw her arms around him, squeezing as tight as she could.

"Can't…breathe…." Castle rasped.

"Oops!" Kate loosened her hold, but didn't take her hands from around his neck. "I'm sorry Castle. I just really missed you."

"I was only gone for five minutes."

"It had to have been longer than that," Kate said. "It felt like _hours_. But you're here now, so that's what matters."

"Um, yeah." Castle put his hands on top of Kate's, gently pulling them from his neck. "How about I put these bags down before the food gets cold?"

That was a hard one for Kate. She _was _hungry, but she didn't want to let him go yet. She'd just regained her emotional equilibrium and she didn't want the shaking to start up again.

"Hey, Beckett!"

Kate turned her head to the voice, her gaze landing on Tom Demming. Evidently the man had been on the elevator with Castle. She had seen the guy around a few times, even thought he was cute. Nothing compared to Castle, of course. But cute.

She'd even toyed with the idea of going on a date with him.

Ridiculous when she thought back on it now.

"I'll just set this stuff down," Castle said, easing his hands from Kate's own.

"You don't have to," Kate rushed to assure him. "Demming just needs to talk to me about-"

"None of my business." Castle was quick to reply.

Kate watched him hurry towards the break room, blinking back unexpected tears.

He couldn't possibly think there was anything between her and Demming, could he?

"Beckett?" Deming's voice broke into her anxious thoughts. "Did I come at a bad time?"

"No, it's fine," Kate said. For some reason Castle was determined to get some space from her. But she couldn't think about the pain that realization caused or she wouldn't be able to do her job.

And that's why Demming had come to talk to her, she knew. Castle would have known that, too, if he'd given her the chance to explain.

"So is tomorrow's stakeout all set?" Demming wanted to know.

"I cleared it with the captain first thing this morning," Kate assured him. She may not have been able to get Castle to understand that it was just business, but she would make certain Demming didn't have any false expectations. "But I need to make sure you understand something. You're cute, and you're a nice guy. But there is only one man in the world for me, and that's Rick Castle."

* * *

**So what did you all think of this chapter? Please R&R. Thanks.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I wasn't able to post the next chapter over the weekend, but I'm close. Only missed my personal deadline by about a half hour. This will teach me to go against my decision to wait until the story is finished before I start posting. Next time I'll have to show more restraint. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Castle, as we all know. Also, this chapter has spoilers for 'Heat Wave' just to warn those who haven't read it yet. Oh, and I don't own Superman, either. But we all know that, too.**

* * *

Closer.

She needed to be closer.

NOW.

Kate looked over at Castle who had his phone on the corner of her desk so that he could play Angry Birds one-handed. His other hand was once again firmly grasped in hers.

She had lasted all of five minutes without his hand in hers. Just long enough for him to set the bags of food down and for both of them to fill their plates. Her chaotic thoughts and slight shaking had made it painfully obvious that eating would have been impossible without Castle's steadying touch.

That had been over an hour ago.

Rising to her feet, Kate tugged on Castle's hand. He gave her a questioning look but wordlessly stood. With her free hand Kate pushed her chair back while with her other she pulled Castle over so that he was standing in front of her. Once the back of his legs hit the front edge of her chair, Kate released him and put both of her palms squarely on his chest. She gave him a light push and smiled when he got the idea and sat. A moment later she turned and settled herself on Castle's lap. She grasped his arms that were on either side of her and positioned them around her waist.

Much, _much_ better.

* * *

Kate was in his arms.

Detective Kate Beckett was allowing him to hold her.

No, more than that. She was _demanding _it.

Hopefully the perfume's affects wore off soon. He hadn't had to show this amount of restraint with a woman since he was a teenager.

But she wasn't herself. And Castle wouldn't, couldn't, take advantage of the situation.

So what should he do now?

* * *

Her contentment lasted for all of five minutes.

Kate gave up even the pretense of working while she wrestled with the problem.

She still wasn't close enough.

_He _wasn't close enough.

Kate suddenly felt the back of Castle's fingers against her lips. She glanced down and saw that the hand against her mouth was held firmly in both of hers.

When had she done that?

* * *

The feeling of Kate's mouth on his skin was almost too much. Even if it was just some odd role reversal of an old-fashioned gesture of chivalry.

Then she leaned back against him, her head cradled against his shoulder.

"Mmmm, Castle," she murmured.

Castle shut his eyes and bit back a groan. Did she have to say his name like _that_?

He couldn't let this go any farther. Especially not at the precinct. Or in front of her co-workers, two of whom were giving him warning glares.

_Perfume_, he mouthed to Ryan and Esposito. Ryan nodded in understanding but Esposito merely folded his arms across his chest and stared Castle down.

Esposito was right, Castle knew. He needed to put a stop to all of this. Things had already been allowed to go too far. Kate would be furious with him when the perfume's affects wore off.

Decision made, Castle quickly stood. Kate was obviously startled but quickly gained her footing. She turned to him, surprised hurt in her eyes that made Castle wince. Naturally she was going to think he was rejecting her. He wished he could explain but knew that she was in no state to hear it.

* * *

He was pulling away. For all of his flirtatious ways, when it came right down to it, he didn't want her. It was like he couldn't get away from her fast enough.

But she needed him.

Was there a way to _make _him want her?

That's when an idea hit her. He didn't want the real her. But maybe she could interest him in the fantasy.

* * *

Castle was almost asleep when he heard the knock at his front door. Yawning, he pulled back the covers and got out of bed. He rubbed his tired eyes with his arm as he made his way to the family room.

"Beckett," Castle said when he saw the detective on his doorstep. He wasn't surprised, not really. If anything, he had expected her an hour or so earlier, considering that he'd left the precinct almost two hours ago.

"Castle, I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you," she proclaimed before grabbing the bag at her feet and sweeping into his apartment.

* * *

Crap. She hadn't meant to say that. The man didn't want her. If she brought too much reality into the situation he would ask her to leave for sure. She needed to make him _want _her to stay.

Kate carried the bag over to his kitchen counter and quickly set out the contents. Everything was there-the salt, the sliced wedges of lime and the tequila. She had even poured half of it into an old bottle at her apartment before heading over to the loft. This had to go as close to the way Castle had written it as possible.

* * *

The tequila on his counter was a bad sign. Castle hadn't known for sure how this night was going to go if the perfume hadn't worn off in time, but he should have known Kate's mind would run so closely parallel to his. It happened often enough when they were building theory.

As much as he wanted to, he couldn't let the scenario Kate had in mind, one his own book had planted, play out.

Kate took out a hurricane lamp out of the bag, along with a box of matches. She set the lamp on the counter and lit the lamp with one of the matches before turning off the kitchen light. None of the family room lights were on so it was in semi-darkness that Kate made her way over to Castle.

"It's not a black out, but it will have to do," she said as she brushed the side of his jaw with her fingers.

"Kate, we can't-"

"But we can, Castle," Kate said. "I want this. And you wrote it, it's your fantasy. Let me make your fantasy come true, Rick."

How was he supposed to say no to that?

But he had to.

"Kate, you're not yourself," he said.

"You're right, Castle," she surprised him by agreeing. "Tonight I'm Nikki and you're Rook."

"That's not what I-"

"Are you telling me you don't want me, even as Nikki?" Kate asked, her eyes flashing with a mixture of anger and pain.

"Not wa-"

"Just tell me, Castle. I'm a big girl, I can take it."

"It's not an issue of wanting, Kate," Castle protested. "It's the perfume. Somehow it's made you drunk on," his mind scrambled for the right word. He wanted to say "me" but that sounded too arrogant, even for him. "Love," was the word he decided on.

* * *

Drunk?

That would explain a lot. The shakiness. The inability to focus. But she had never had racing thoughts when she was drunk, not that it occurred all that often. Even after her mother's murder she turned to Castle's books much more frequently than alcohol, especially after her father started to be consumed by the bottle.

But that would have to mean that the perfume had some magic ability to cause her to lose all of her inhibitions, and no mere perfume could do that.

Although she couldn't deny that she had lowered her inhibitions around Castle. But that was because she had finally gotten tired of fighting her feelings for the man. And the feelings had gotten too strong to fight anymore.

In fact, she was a little insulted. She told him she loved him and all he could say in reply was that she was drunk? Seriously?

Kate looked into the blue eyes that pleaded with her.

_He believes it_, she realized. _He thinks that this is all because of the perfume!_

"And what if it wasn't the perfume, Castle?" she challenged.

"You don't want to go there, Beckett."

"You're wrong, Castle. That's exactly where I want to go."

* * *

"Come on, Beckett, get a grip!"

"Oh, believe me, I'd love to," Kate giggled as she finally got her hands around his neck. She could have caught up to him and grabbed him at any time, but the pretend chase they'd been engaged in for the last ten minutes had been the most fun Kate had experienced in a long time.

"You have no idea how many times I have thought about this, dreamt about this," Castle said. "But it's not _real_, Kate."

"I'm getting really tired of hearing that, Castle."

"Then start listening, Kate."

"So are you the pot or the kettle?" Kate wanted to know.

* * *

Castle sighed. There was no getting through to her. And really, she did have a point. He didn't listen to her as often as he should. But he also wasn't under the influence of a pheromone-laden perfume!

Thankfully.

He could honestly say it was one of those rare times that he was glad he hadn't been with her to chase down a suspect.

"If I have a shot of tequila, will you be able to calm down, just a little?"

At her enthusiastic nod, he went over to the counter and got down a shot glass. He licked the web between his thumb and forefinger before shaking a small amount of salt over the area. He started to raise his hand to his mouth to lick off the salt when Kate took his hand.

This was going to be a _long _night.

* * *

Finally things were going right.

The taste of salt and skin on her tongue was making a bit lightheaded. But it was _so _worth it. She drew it out as long as she could, keeping her mouth on his hand long after the salt was gone.

* * *

A very, _very _long night.

It wasn't until he held out a shot glass to her that she let go. His intense gaze followed her as she sprinkled salt on her hand before holding it out to him.

He really shouldn't be doing this, but he couldn't deny her what she so obviously wanted. Denying her anything had never been his strong suit.

* * *

He forgot the lime.

As his lips touched her hand and he licked away the salt, Kate decided she didn't care.

Kate insisted that they each have another shot. Both because that's what had happened in the book and because she couldn't get enough of touching his skin or having him touch hers. Even if it was just their hands.

* * *

When Kate started to rip her button down shirt, Castle knew he had to keep things from going any further. He covered her hands in a tight grip to stop her from doing any more damage to the garment.

But she'd already done enough to weaken his self-control even further.

Because directly over her heart was a tattoo with his name in black lettering inside a red heart. Curving around the outside of the heart were the words 'my one and done.'

* * *

How could she be tired?

She was so _close_ to getting what she wanted.

But for some reason as Castle's hands kept her from finishing her imitation of Nikki Heat, she was having a difficult time keeping her eyes open.

Maybe she could just snuggle with Castle tonight and they could try the page 105 scene in the morning.

* * *

Castle let out a sigh of relief. She was finally asleep. Now maybe he could finally get some peace. He didn't want to be too far away, though, in case she needed anything. They didn't know what possible side effects, other than the lowering of inhibitions, that the perfume might have. For all he knew, he might end up having to take her to the hospital.

"Castle!"

At the sound of her crying out his name he burst into the guest room where she was staying. He came to a sudden halt when he saw that she was tossing and turning, but her eyes were definitely closed.

"Castle, if you stop, I swear I will shoot you," she threatened.

It made Castle wonder what kind of dream she was having. Were they at a crime scene or…?

"Castle!" she gasped out a few moments later.

Definitely not a crime scene, then.

Castle forced himself to leave the room. His self-control would be shot if he had to spend much time listening to her having _those _types of dreams. Especially when he knew he was playing a starring role.

* * *

Kate's head was throbbing.

What had happened last night? Had she gone out partying with Lanie and drank one too many Black Russians?

_No, not Black Russians, tequila_, she realized as her brain registered the familiar aftertaste in her mouth.

But she had avoided tequila ever since _Heat Wave_ came out. The drink just made her think of page 105 and she didn't need the reminder.

Castle. She'd been with Castle last night. That was the only plausible explanation. And he wasn't in the room with her, so he'd been the perfect gentleman she knew he was, deep down.

She just hoped she hadn't let the drinks get to her and that she'd been able to show some restraint.

* * *

All night. She had been calling out his name, talking in her sleep, all night long. He couldn't take it anymore, perfume or not. As soon as she woke up-

"Castle?"

She might be awake this time. That tone didn't sound breathy and it wasn't on the edge of a moan. Not giving himself time to rethink his decision, he burst into the room. When he saw that she was awake, he didn't bother holding the words back.

"Kate, I can't take it anymore. If you really want me, I'm yours."

* * *

It was worse than she thought. From the sounds of it, she'd been throwing herself at him, forcing him to be the mature one. How humiliating.

Irritated at the embarrassment she felt, Kate snapped, "Have you lost your mind?"

Just how far _had things gone_? She wondered, glancing down to make sure that she was still decently covered. She gasped when she saw the tattoo, quickly reading it.

_Her one and done?_

Maybe it wasn't Castle she needed to worry about.

_He didn't lose his mind. I think I lost mine._


	4. Chapter 4

**You can blame the length of time between updates on the awesome weather we've been having around here lately. It's unusual enough that when there's a nice sunny day, I just have to take advantage of it. And there have been a lot. But I forced myself to stay inside long enough to finish this. Work first, then play. LOL, like this is EVER work.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or Superman. Just an overactive imagination that keeps my mind endlessly busy.**

* * *

Kate had thought she was dreaming. The memories that had flooded her mind when she first awoke had been hazy and fragmented, so it had been a logical assumption. But the tattoo over her heart was all too real.

"Beckett, are you going to talk to me?" Castle's voice pulled her from her thoughts. She let out a soft groan and hid her face in her pillow when looking into his eyes only brought the memories into sharper focus.

Not that it helped. As the seconds passed, the thoughts and images in her mind came with increasing clarity and intensity. Kate could almost feel his arms around her when the memory of sitting on his lap at the precinct flashed through her mind. The memory of imitating Nikki Heat caused her to bite her lip to hold back a moan when the feeling of his lips on her hand came with it.

And the tattoo. Kate was glad now that she'd let her friend, Rico the tattoo artist, talk her into a temporary one. Although that had only been after Kate had insisted on setting up an appointment for the following week to get an identical tattoo that would be permanent.

Obviously she wouldn't be keeping that appointment now.

"Beckett?"

The urge to get him to stop talking by pressing her mouth to his made Kate wonder if the perfume was still working. Because she could no longer deny that she had been under the influence of _something_ the day before. And it wasn't alcohol, because she would never have run the risk of being drunk in Castle's presence.

No, it couldn't be the perfume. Not this time. If she had been she 'would have been all over Castle in a matter of seconds.' Kate couldn't believe she had let that slip out, no matter what she had been under the influence of.

"Kate?"

Oh crap, now he was touching her! It was only his hand on her shoulder, but after everything that she had experienced in the last twenty-four hours, it still sent a shiver racing through her.

And _why _did he have to call her Kate? That only reminded her of how he tried to push her away when she threw herself at him. The pain of that memory was far more than a mere echo, even though she understood now why he had done it.

She needed to get a grip. And _not_ on Castle. On herself and her still rebellious emotions.

Kate forced herself to look back up at Castle, hoping she was able to pull off the calm expression she was aiming for. "I'm fine, Castle," she lied.

She _would_ be fine. Eventually.

"I'm just embarrassed," she admitted.

"But Kate, you weren't yourself yesterday."

_Stop calling me Kate, Castle!_

If it wouldn't have made her sound like a lunatic, she would have stated the half plea, half command out loud.

"It's not your fault," Castle went on defending her.

"It's not like I broke any laws, Castle," Kate snapped.

Other than her own personal ones. She'd broken every single self-imposed Castle rule she'd ever come up with.

Kate hoped the tone of her voice kept him from realizing how much it meant that he was standing up for her. Even against her own personally implied accusations.

"I'm just saying there's no reason for you to be embarrassed," he insisted. "About anything."

Kate was glad when the ringing of her phone kept her from having to come up with a reply to _that_.

* * *

"So what do you have for us, Lanie?" Kate asked when she and Castle entered the morgue in response to Lanie's call.

"Metropolis STAR Labs just called with some VERY interesting information. It seems that this perfume here," Lanie indicated the bottle on the table next to her, presumably filled with a sample of Miranda Chambers' pheromone laden concoction, "only works if there is some animal magnetism to begin with."

"That would mean I would have to find Castle-" Kate couldn't bring herself to finish the thought. In her head or out loud.

"Mmmhmm," Lanie's eyes brimmed with delight at Kate's predicament.

"That's just-" Kate started but once again let her voice trail off.

"That's just what, Beckett?" Castle wanted to know.

Kate's gaze involuntarily went to Castle's lips before meeting his gaze with a hard stare. "Can we just get back to the case?"

"According to Dr. Freedman," Lanie took pity on her friend by continuing, "this particular perfume inhibits the part of the brain that serves as a defense mechanism, leaving a person helpless to control themselves."

Which provided Kate with the perfect excuse.

But she couldn't get around the fact that the perfume had revealed to Lanie, Castle and the majority of the homicide division of the 12th that she wasn't as immune to her writer shadow as she wanted them to think. Not even alcohol would have rendered her as blatantly needy as she had been under the perfume's influence.

How was she going to explain _that _away?

"You could always spray me with the perfume," Castle offered, "then we would be even."

Spray. The perfume. On _Castle_?

Richard Castle with lowered inhibitions, unable to control himself?

A shiver ran through Kate at the mere thought of all that could happen.

Followed immediately by alarm. Castle was known to _touch_ things-crime scene photos, her chair, FBI Tasers….

Kate whipped around so that she stood directly in front of him.

"You," she said, jabbing a finger in the center of Castle's chest, "are _not_," another poke, "getting anywhere near-"

A sudden crash and Castle's high-pitched scream caused the rest of Kate's words to die on her lips. Her eyes widened in horror when her gaze landed on the broken perfume bottle next to Castle's feet.

No.

It couldn't have.

It didn't.

Right?

Clearly Kate hadn't been paying close enough attention. Her panic at the thought of Castle being under the influence of the perfume had somehow made her forget how close to the table Castle had been standing.

And now she may have caused the very thing she was trying to prevent.

"Castle," Kate's tone was hesitant as she addressed the writer, "are you okay?"

"Hmmmm," Castle did a slow stretch as he spoke, "nope, I'm good."

Kate forced herself to look directly in Castle's eyes as she said, "Then move, Castle. We don't want a chance of any of that stuff getting on you."

Castle moved, but not in the direction Kate was expecting. In the time it took her to draw in a shaky breath of relief, he had sidestepped the spilled perfume and closed the distance between them. She could feel his breath on her skin which was immediately followed by his hand as he lightly trailed a finger down her cheek.

"You have such beautiful eyes," he murmured. To Kate's shock he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss right above her right eyelid. "And such soft skin," he went on, taking one of her hands in his and lightly brushing the back of her fingers with his lips. "I've always wanted to know if your hair was as soft as it looked." His gaze intent on her own, Castle took a strand of her hair between his fingers.

It was the perfume. Castle would never act like this otherwise.

Or at least she would never have let him.

But she had to put a stop to it.

Now.

"Castle-" Kate started, but then she felt his breath on her lips.

Kate closed her eyes, but that only made it worse. It only focused her other senses on the scent of him that surrounded her, the thumb he was lightly sliding over her knuckles, the sound of his breathing that was starting to turn shallow. And that reminded her of his breath on her lips that had started the whole thing.

The only sense that had been left out was taste.

Kate's eyes snapped back open at the thought.

Taste.

Suddenly she wanted the taste of his lips on hers.

Craved it.

But he was under the influence of the perfume.

"Can't-" she rasped out.

His thumb had stopped moving along her knuckles.

"Take-"

Now he had let go of her hand completely.

"Advantage-"

"Kate."

He had never made a secret of the fact that he wanted her, but the evidence of how much was there in his tone.

"Of the situation…."

She looked at the lips that she so desperately wanted on hers and then, almost a reflex, up to his eyes. Deep blue eyes that revealed just as much as his voice had.

"Oh, what the heck," Kate muttered.

Then finally, _finally_, their lips touched.

Kate slid her hands up his chest until she had a firm grip on his shoulders.

She ran her tongue along his bottom lip, smiling when she felt the groan rumble in his chest. She pressed as close to him as she could, delighting in the way his arms tightened around her in response.

Any second and Castle's control was going to shatter and she would get the kiss she'd secretly been longing for. Not that she needed him to take control, of the kiss or anything else, but he would. The pheromones in the perfume would drive him to it. She knew that much from her own experience.

And she would let him.

If he didn't get on with it, she would _ask _him to.

But he seemed perfectly content to let her take the lead. He didn't move to deepen the kiss at all.

So she did.

And still he was holding back, even with her tongue in his mouth and her lips moving sensually against his.

Which would only mean one thing.

Kate wrenched her lips from his and leveled her fiercest interrogation glare at him.

"Apples!" he called out as he backed away from her, thankfully moving away from the broken perfume bottle.

Kate didn't hesitate.

"That word is not going to save you this time, Castle," she growled as she slowly advanced.

"Beckett, I didn't kiss you," he pointed out, "you kissed me."

"You let me think you were under the influence of the perfume," Kate said. "You took advantage of my assumptions."

"I wasn't the one taking advantage, Kate."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kate demanded to know.

"You said it yourself," Castle said. "That you couldn't take advantage of the situation. But then you did."

She _had _said that.

Right before she-

"I took advantage of you," she whispered, horrified.

"You can take advantage of me, anytime," Castle assured her.

"You didn't," Kate pointed out. "For 24 hours. And I-"

What parallel universe had she fallen into, that _Castle _had more self-control than she did?

Although to be fair he hadn't been dealing with 24 hours of pheromone controlled hormones run amok.

"You took advantage of the opportunity I _gave_ you," Castle said. "That's the difference. You didn't have a choice with your reactions. I did."

"But I didn't _know _that," Kate reminded him. "And I still-"

_Why _did she?

It couldn't be the pheromones, because neither of them had been under the influence of the perfume at that point.

So why?

Animal magnetism.

The perfume only worked when she was already attracted. Her reaction to Demming had proven that.

She had done it because she wanted-

Him.

She could fight it, deny it all she wanted, but the perfume had forced her to see the truth.

But what did he want?

"Why?"

Castle was obviously taken off guard by her question. "Why, what?"

"Why did you give me the opportunity, Castle?"

Castle gaped at her. "I can't believe you're asking me that."

"Why, Castle?" she pressed. "Because I don't do one-night stands. So why?"

"You could never be just a one-night stand!"

"So what would I be, Castle?"

"Extraordinary."

Kate was torn between wanting to smile and wanting to roll her eyes. She knew he meant it, that 'extraordinary' was his word for her. He'd even put that in his book dedication to her.

He thought she was extraordinary because she didn't let go, she didn't back down.

She didn't do that in her job, and she wasn't going to do that with him.

And she needed more. If she was going to dive into this relationship she was finally able to admit to herself that she wanted, she wasn't going to let him off the hook.

He was a writer. He needed words.

Well, she needed words, too.

"What do you want, Castle?"

"What do _you _want, Kate?"

Oh, no. She wasn't going to be the first one to take the leap.

Then she saw it. She wasn't sure if he was intentionally showing her or not, but she could see the hint of uncertainty in his eyes.

She could push him. She could make him tell her, make him be the first to put his heart on the line.

But she wouldn't. Because she had a feeling he was already as deep in this as she was.

"I want this," she admitted, forcing herself to boldly look him in the eye so that he would have to reason to doubt her sincerity. "I want us. What do you want?"

His answer was simple and to the point. "Just you, Kate," he told her, "I just want you."

* * *

**Well, there you go, ****purplangel**** a new chapter just like I promised.**

**As per usual, this chapter took some twists and turns I wasn't expecting. For example, I was going to have Kate say the quote from 'Always.' But my muse likes to surprise me like that.**

**I am working on other stories and hope to have something new up soon. But I won't say which one, because my muse hasn't been consistent about that sort of thing.**


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